Clam trapped my filefish

[Reef Dude]

So I never had this happen before. I added a maxima clam earlier this week. I don’t know if the filefish was nipping at the clam or what, but the clam closed on the filefish leaving the filefish stuck. I tried gently pulling the fish out of the clam with no luck. The clam has the filefish really good.

Is there a trick to make the clam open without hurting it? Or do I just let this play out and see what happens?

 

[bobonakamoto]

I feel bad for the clam, it was just minding its business :|

 

[Reef Dude]

I feel bad for the clam, it was just minding its business :|

I feel bad for both of them. I’ve had the filefish for a few years, and he’s a super cool guy. But he got what he deserves in this case I guess. The filefish is still alive and I’d like to save him, but I don’t want to hurt the clam in the process either. This sucks.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Oh man I’m not sure what you could to to persuade the clam to open. Do you have any filter food you can squirt around the clam to see if it will open?

 

[Cristy17]

Just an idea..what if you blast some food around the clam to see if he will open...?

 

[Reef Dude]

Oh man I’m not sure what you could to to persuade the clam to open. Do you have any filter food you can squirt around the clam to see if it will open?

I do. I’ll give it a shot. Can’t hurt anything.

 

[DSC reef]

Squirting food could cause the clam the close tighter. Unfortunately both the clam and the filefish might be seriously injured after this. Sorry too see but it does happen and you'll have to wait it out. If either survive you might have to make a choice of which one you want to keep.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

You might try manual removal with more Force. Probably not a whole lot of time for the fish if it stays like that. Consider a tool to wedge in there. if you value the filefish more than the clam then you need to act swiftly.

 

[Reef Dude]

Thank you for the food idea, but squirting some food near the clam did not work. Filefish is still alive and stuck. I guess my last resort if pulling the filefish hard given that it will die anyway if it remains stuck, but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.

 

[Twìsted~Coral]

That file fish got clapped

 

[Reef Dude]

Squirting food could cause the clam the close tighter. Unfortunately both the clam and the filefish might be seriously injured after this. Sorry too see but it does happen and you might have to wait it out. If either survive you might have to make choice of which one you want to keep.

That’s what I was afraid of. I’ll hope for the best. I’ve had clams in the past, and I never had this happen before.

 

[DSC reef]

That’s what I was afraid of. I’ll hope for the best. I’ve had clams in the past, and I never had this happen before.

It is a rare occasion but that is the only defensive action a clam can take from fish or inverts trying to eat them. If you force the clam open you'll most likely kill it. Also, no telling the damage done to the file fish.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Thank you for the food idea, but squirting some food near the clam did not work. Filefish is still alive and stuck. I guess my last resort if pulling the filefish hard given that it will die anyway if it remains stuck, but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.

You could try a butter knife or similar width hard object and rotate it 90 degrees to pry it open

 

[jordan10]

Crazy u don't think it will just open in a few?

 

[Reef Dude]

At this point, I’m just going to let it go. I tried one more time to manually pull the fish out, but it’s not even close to budging. It’s quite the debate... do I save the fish or the clam? There’s no right answer, so I guess I’ll let nature take it’s course. Maybe the clam will give up and release the file fish at some point.

Of all the things to worry about with a reef tank, something like this was never even on my radar. Geeesh.

 

[jordan10]

What kinda of clam is it?

 

[SMSREEF]

What a horrible dilemma. I hope clam opens before you need to make a choice.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

At this point, I’m just going to let it go. I tried one more time to manually pull the fish out, but it’s not even close to budging. It’s quite the debate... do I save the fish or the clam? There’s no right answer, so I guess I’ll let nature take it’s course. Maybe the clam will give up and release the file fish at some point.

Of all the things to worry about with a reef tank, something like this was never even on my radar. Geeesh.

That’s terrible I’m very sorry that happened. You did what you could.

 

[Reef Dude]

What kinda of clam is it?

It is a maxima clam. What a way to start the week, huh? I think the worst part is watching the file fish suffering. It’s times like this that make you realize how attached we get to the animals in our tanks.

 

[SMSREEF]

At this point, I’m just going to let it go. I tried one more time to manually pull the fish out, but it’s not even close to budging. It’s quite the debate... do I save the fish or the clam? There’s no right answer, so I guess I’ll let nature take it’s course. Maybe the clam will give up and release the file fish at some point.

Of all the things to worry about with a reef tank, something like this was never even on my radar. Geeesh.

I guess you were posting as I was typing.
I think going with Nature is usually the way to go.

I still hope the clam releases the filefish. But if not, at least you didn't kill the clam trying to get him out.